10.3 Dead in the Water - Suse

This is a discussion on 10.3 Dead in the Water - Suse ; Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
pathname or ...

10.3 Dead in the Water

Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
"Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
failed with

Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
had reset the BIOS to defaults.

Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
the Linux partitions.

Thanks
Paul

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

On Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:05:13 -0600, Paul Thompson wrote:
> Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
> when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
> attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
> pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
> "Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
> Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
> system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
> failed with
>
> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0) (hd0,6)
> Error 21: Selected disk does not exist.
>
> Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
> had reset the BIOS to defaults.
>
> Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
> the Linux partitions.

I had a very similar problem, but I can't remember how I finally solved it
- but be re-assured, it is probably solvable.

Someone else will soon be along no doubt, with more expert advice than I
can offer, but for now, have you tried "boot installed system" from
either the 10.2 or 10.3 disks ?

ISTR I did that, then went into Yast/Grub and started over again with
"suggest new configuration".

HTH

Paul (W)

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson wrote:
> Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
> when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
> attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
> pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
> "Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
> Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
> system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
> failed with
>
> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0) (hd0,6)
> Error 21: Selected disk does not exist.
>
> Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
> had reset the BIOS to defaults.
>
> Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
> the Linux partitions.
>
> Thanks
> Paul

By changing "rootnoverify (hd)" to "rootnoverify (hd0)" I got it to boot
into Windows. Now I need to find a way to recover the Linux partitions.

I tried various combinations of booting with the 10.2 and 10.3 DVDs with
no success.

Paul

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson schreef:
> Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
> when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
> attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
> pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
> "Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
> Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
> system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
> failed with
>
> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0) (hd0,6)
> Error 21: Selected disk does not exist.
>
(hd0) means first drive, so (hd0,6) means 7th partition on first drive.
You just said that 10.3 in installed on (hda4) or as grub see it
(hd0,3). So I guess that you should expecting grub gives you error
because /boot/grub/stage2 doesn't exist in windows partition.
> Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
> had reset the BIOS to defaults.
>
> Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
> the Linux partitions.
>
> Thanks
> Paul

Boot from live cd like knoppix, or opensuse live cd whatever, then go to
your linux partition and go to /boot/grub/menu.lst. Make sure if its
ok, especially the line after the title, it should be like this "root
(hd0,3)". Here is my menu.lst so you can compare it with yours.

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

I was trying to get to 10.2. One possibility may be that 10.3 installed
a version of GRUB that is incompatible with 10.2. The 10.3 repair system
didn't work, and 10.2 made a menu.lst incompatible with the 10.3 GRUB?

Canned wrote:
> Paul Thompson schreef:
>> Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
>> when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
>> attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
>> pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
>> "Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
>> Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
>> system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
>> failed with
>>
>> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0) (hd0,6)
>> Error 21: Selected disk does not exist.
>>
> (hd0) means first drive, so (hd0,6) means 7th partition on first drive.
> You just said that 10.3 in installed on (hda4) or as grub see it
> (hd0,3). So I guess that you should expecting grub gives you error
> because /boot/grub/stage2 doesn't exist in windows partition.
>
>> Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
>> had reset the BIOS to defaults.
>>
>> Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
>> the Linux partitions.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Paul
>
> Boot from live cd like knoppix, or opensuse live cd whatever, then go to
> your linux partition and go to /boot/grub/menu.lst. Make sure if its
> ok, especially the line after the title, it should be like this "root
> (hd0,3)". Here is my menu.lst so you can compare it with yours.
>
> # Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Mon Dec 3 13:59:45 CET 2007
> default 0
> timeout 8
> gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
> ##YaST - activate
>
> ###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
> title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
> root (hd0,1)
> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
> root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Hitachi_HTS7220070801DP0D00DVG1YRDA-part2
> vga=0x31a noapic nolapic acpi=off resume=/dev/sda1 splash=silent showopts
> initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
>
> ###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
> title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.13-0.3
> root (hd0,1)
> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
> root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_Hitachi_HTS7220070801DP0D00DVG1YRDA-part2
> vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic
> maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
> initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
>
>
> I hope that will help.

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson in <13lf918748ledf5@corp.supernews.com> :

> I was trying to get to 10.2. One possibility may be that 10.3 installed
> a version of GRUB that is incompatible with 10.2. The 10.3 repair system
> didn't work, and 10.2 made a menu.lst incompatible with the 10.3 GRUB?

No.
Try too understand the menu.lst syntax.
Look what the numbers of your disks and partitions are and adjust your
menu.lst. The expample from Cannad was fine.

P.

--
mailtoeter@dharma.dyn-o-saur.com

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson schreef:
> I was trying to get to 10.2. One possibility may be that 10.3 installed
> a version of GRUB that is incompatible with 10.2. The 10.3 repair system
> didn't work, and 10.2 made a menu.lst incompatible with the 10.3 GRUB?
>
It's not incompatible, it should work with both version. Have you try
booting from live cd like I told you and edit menu.lst yourself? I
recommend you to try that first then complain.

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Yast can definitely write bad grub config files -- it's a known
bug, and happened to me while installing 10.3.

The important thing is to preserve your work -- your precious
data. Trying to fix the grub installation could conceivably
mess up the partition table on the drive, or the filesystem in
one of the partitions. For maximum safety you should not
write anything to that drive -- don't change anything on it
at all -- until you have copied your data from it to some
other storage location.

The safest approach would be to buy another hard drive big
enough to hold your important data. Disks are cheap these
days, and you'll want to make a backup copy of your data
anyhow. Disconnect the data and power cables of the old
disk (of course with the power off and you grounding
yourself to the chassis to avoid static electricity) and
connect the new disk to the lowest-numbered disk
controller port. Install Linux on the new disk, and make
sure it boots correctly.

Then, leaving the new drive connected, reconnect the old
drive to a higher-numbered controller port, reboot the
Linux on the new drive, and mount read-only the relevant
partitions of the old drive. Copy your important files from
the old drive to the new. Make sure the copies of the files
are readable and correct.

At this point your data will be safely backed up and you'll
have a working Linux system on the new disk. You can
either just run that system and keep the old disk as the
backup (Windows sucks anyhow -- who needs it?) or you
can become a grub expert (I can show you where to find
a lot of info about grub on the Web) and figure out how to
fix the grub installation on the old disk so it will boot.

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson wrote:
> Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
> when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
> attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
> pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
> "Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
> Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
> system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
> failed with
>
> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0) (hd0,6)
> Error 21: Selected disk does not exist.
>
> Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
> had reset the BIOS to defaults.
>
> Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
> the Linux partitions.
>
> Thanks
> Paul

Back to working, booted into 10.2 using the 10.2 DVD, attempts to repair
the boot process for 10.2 failed. Then I used the 10.2 DVD to boot into
10.3 and there the repair process worked (good enough). I then manually
cleaned up menu.lst and all's well. There's no resume entry and the boot
shows details in a large font, but it still works OK.

Avoiding YaST for boot setup is probably a good idea with 10.3.

Thanks all for the help.
Paul

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson wrote:
> ... and the boot shows details in a large font, but it still works OK.

Do you have a vga=... on the appropriate line in menu.lst?

This controls the size of the boot up display (at least).

I have vga=0x31a for example which corresponds to 1280x1024 (64k colors).
Use whatever value works for your system.

Check out the files /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt for a better
description.

--
Don

Re: 10.3 Dead in the Water

Paul Thompson wrote:
> Paul Thompson wrote:
>> Can't boot into Windows, 10.2 (hda7) or 10.3 (hda4). The problem started
>> when I used 10.3 Yast to rename and rearrange grub boot entries. Next
>> attempt to boot into 10.3 got a "filename must be either an absolute
>> pathname or blocklist" failure. Trying to boot the 10.3 DVD into the
>> "Repair System" mode failed with "an error occured during installation".
>> Booting with the 10.2 DVD install mode was successful and I chose repair
>> system. All the checks were OK but when it got to the boot repair that
>> failed with
>>
>> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0) (hd0,6)
>> Error 21: Selected disk does not exist.
>>
>> Trying to boot from the hard drive returned to the bad 10.3 grub menu. I
>> had reset the BIOS to defaults.
>>
>> Suggestions please, I might be able to recover XP but all my work is in
>> the Linux partitions.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Paul
>
> Back to working, booted into 10.2 using the 10.2 DVD, attempts to repair
> the boot process for 10.2 failed. Then I used the 10.2 DVD to boot into
> 10.3 and there the repair process worked (good enough). I then manually
> cleaned up menu.lst and all's well. There's no resume entry and the boot
> shows details in a large font, but it still works OK.
>
> Avoiding YaST for boot setup is probably a good idea with 10.3.

I had so much trouble with the 10.2 GRUB updates that I resorted to manual
edits. 10.3 has worked right for me - so far.
--
Will Honea